Nationwide emergency alert test on mobile phones sounds off on LI

Long Islanders and people across the country were jolted by their blaring and buzzing mobile phones Wednesday, as the Federal Emergency Management Agency tested its national wireless emergency system for the first time.

At 2:18 p.m. and in the minutes after, mobile devices across the United States sounded off and vibrated while showing a message: “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.”

FEMA estimated about 225 million electronic devices, or about 75 percent of all mobile phones in the country, would receive the alert. A second alert went off on TV and radio two minutes later.

At the Farmingdale Public Library, phones began to sound, creating an echo effect. Some devices went off on time, but others didn’t wail until minutes later.

However, patrons weren’t fazed by the loud tones punctuating an otherwise quiet afternoon at the library. A few glanced at their phones to close the alert and others didn’t look up at all. Within 10 minutes, it was as if nothing had happened.

Megan Murphy, a clerk at the library, said she’d heard about the alert earlier in the day, so it wasn’t a surprise. She doesn’t keep her phone on her while working.

“I was wondering when they would do it but I wasn’t worried about the sound,” she said. “Phones go off a lot here.”

The system test was for a high-level “presidential” alert that would be used only in a nationwide emergency. Phones with mobile carriers that participate in the wireless emergency alert system, which sends out information on hazardous weather, or missing children, were to receive the alert.

While users can opt out of messages on missing children and natural disasters, they can‘t opt out of the presidential alerts, which are issued at the direction of the White House and activated by FEMA.

At the Roosevelt Field mall in Garden City, electronic wails sounded through its corridors. At the food court, some patrons peered down at their phones to view the test alert, others hardly looked up from their food.

Bryan Higgins, 48, of Uniondale, was ordering a Philly cheesesteak around 2:18 p.m. Initially he thought someone’s phone alarm had gone off, when he realized the high-pitched noise was streaming from his own device, too.

“I was surprised. I forgot ... it was going to happen today,” he said.

Higgins thought the test was a nuisance, calling it an “invasion of privacy.”

The test caught Olivia and Bryan Folgar off guard, too. The Hempstead residents were finishing up lunch at the mall when they heard it, just loud enough to cut through the cacophony of the crowded cafeteria.

When Bryan Folgar's phone vibrated, it came as a surprise, even though he had heard about the test on the radio. Olivia Folgar, 28, said she initially thought it was an alert from the National Weather Service.

“I think it’s a good thing,” Bryan Folgar said. “It’s quicker than hearing about it over the radio.”

On Twitter, #PresidentialAlert was the number one trending topic Wednesday afternoon. Some people on social media joked about receiving a “text from the President," while a handful of users also said they had not received the alert.

The timing couldn’t have been better for Jack Schnirman, former Long Beach City manager. He was telling 50 people or so gathered for a session at Hofstra University’s hurricane symposium Wednesday about the arrival of impacts from superstorm Sandy in 2012. That included looking out the window to see that the ocean and the bay had met and “there was a current outside the office,” he said.

Shortly after, people's phones sounded off with the test alert. But the roomful of forecasters, public officials and emergency managers were undaunted. After a moment of looking at phones, Schnirman picked up with his talk about response to the storm.

The presidential alert sounded shortly before a “Coffee with a Cop” program at the Melrose Deli in Hampton Bays on Wednesday afternoon.

Southampton Town Police Officer John Giambone said the presidential alert could be helpful when people aren’t near a radio or television, particularly younger residents who are always on their cellphones.

“If there’s a national emergency, we should know about it,” he said. “Everybody should know about it.”

State Trooper Daniel Ahlgrim noted that the cellphone alerts get the information out quickly. “I think using that technology is a wonderful thing,” he said.

Carlos Arbelaez, 53, of East Quogue, said he’d heard about the presidential alert on the news.

“I didn’t give the president my number,” he joked. “Am I that important?”

The alert would sound as long as the device was turned on — even if it was on mute or do not disturb, officials said. The message was to be broadcast by cell towers for 30 minutes, allowing some people to receive the alert at different times. FEMA officials said Tuesday they would share test result data on how the testing went with mobile carriers to help ensure the system works well in a true emergency.

On Wednesday, a New York federal judge refused to block FEMA from conducting the emergency alert test.

Judge Katherine Polk Failla in Manhattan rejected a long-shot effort by three individuals who sued without a lawyer to try to stop the test Wednesday afternoon.

With AP, Patricia Kitchen and Stefanie Dazio